Day 101 - Saturday, July 10, 2021

I don’t think it’s ever going to stop raining. These are the times that I really appreciate “slack packing”. I can’t imagine what the back packers are going through - well actually I can and that’s why I wouldn’t do it. 😂.  It hard to keep things dry when it’s not raining.  Shoes never drying, no dry clothes, sleeping bag damp… ugh! The forecast is getting better with dry sunny days on the horizon. 

Today, Turtle Power’s son Daniel is joining us. I like “noobs”, giving them some direction and our version of the rules and trail etiquette 😉.  We also came up with a honorary trail name for him - “One Leg”! It has nothing to do with his one leg being shorter than the other; that would have made him “Peg Leg” 😂. Daniel was ordained “One Leg” as he’s only hiking “one” day with us and is only  completing “one” segment or “leg” of the AT. He has hiked with Turtle Power before on many occasions, just not on our thru-hike. 

Today we continued hiking from Undermountain Road, Salisbury CT (1502.9 NoBo) to Jug End Road, MA (1519.4 NoBo)  for a total of 16.5 miles. We are also completing all of  Connecticut 🎉 and ventured 8+ miles into southern and Massachusetts. 

We began hiking at 8:30 am under partly sunny skies and the temperature was 68°.

The trail was ridiculously wet with water running right down the trail and mud galor! “Roots, Rocks & Rain”, none are a hikers friend and when you have any combination of them makes for a bad day hiking. 

See what I mean… it’s not going to be a good day 😖.

A lot of time and effort goes into maintaining the trail. These wooden steps are anchored into the rock.

Son like father… like 2 peas in a pod🙄.

Views from on top of Mt. Everett. Day is getting better… these memories are priceless!

Wild blueberries.

Just practicing my cairn building before I get to the White Mountains in New Hampshire where a lot of the trail is above the tree lines and cairns are the only trail markers. 

Do you recall how “roots, rocks & rain” are not a hikers friend ? Turtle Power got a personal reminder 😖!  I picked up a meal token but Turtle Power is still one up on me 🙄.  Did I mention how these moments are priceless…. 😂. 

This is “Tetanus”. He started in Springer in early March. “Tetanus” is from Texas. He even has his own blog… I haven’t checked it out yet 🙄  so I can’t verify it’s content or validity. 

Views from Mt. Race… spectacular!

Look who we ran into… “Unique” our Canadian thru-hiker. She decided to stay on the trail. I guess my pep talk helped 😉. I’m glad that she reconsidered! It’s funny.. you see the same people on the trail. The first time you pass, it may be a casual “hello”; by the 3rd time you see them, you’re inviting each other to your children’s weddings 😂.  There is an unwritten bond of camaraderie that develops among thru-hikers. 

We had to ford through the stream at the MA/CT border due to all the rain. Of course I didn’t have my crocks or extra dry socks… 😡. 

Local streams are over capacity with all the recent rain. Many simple rock hopping  crossing are now difficult fords. 

It’s not uncommon to come across areas along the trail that are environmentally restricted to promote reforestation and recovery. 

Encountering the Wall ascending Bear Mountain. We were told by other hikers that this section was deluged with water earlier in the day… making this climb much more treacherous. 

Group pic and panoramic view from Lions Head.

Today was one of the more difficult hikes when considering the trails  profile and overall conditions. Looking forward to drier, sunnier days!

It was a pleasure  having “One Leg” hike with us today.  Company is always welcome to join us on the trail in case anyone else is interested 😉. 

Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋

“You gotta have passion for life and passion for something that you're going to get up and do,".    

                                Meredith “Sunny” Eberhart